Chapter 87
Chapter 87
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: New Expansion Pack, The Frozen Land
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Whoooosh!
Upon the blizzard-swept mountain range, a biting wind howled mercilessly.
The sky was filled with ash-gray clouds, and snowflakes whipped about madly in the chaos. The landscape was a blur, the world seemingly buried in a white fog. The path along the spine of the mountain range was steep and rugged.
Amidst the swirling snow that left not a single footprint behind, a lone, wavering shadow slowly came into view.
The figure, appearing like a mere speck of dust before the immense power of nature, pressed on, steadfastly crossing the mountain range.
Slowly, music began to play, and the scene shifted.
As if the fierce blizzard had been a lie, a forest brimming with green foliage unfolded. The chirping of birds could be heard amidst the tranquil music, and faint sunlight filtering through the branches and leaves illuminated the forest's interior.
In that forest, orcs and goblins appeared. The adventurers fighting against them were also shown. They were a bit clumsy, but they were surely awakening to their own powers one by one, bravely confronting the vicious monsters.
The rapidly shifting perspective soon began to show a cave deep within the forest.
Hmph!
A massive Orc King swung a colossal battle hammer. Four novice adventurers stood against it.
The image of a young man swinging a sword, a young man preparing a spell, a middle-aged man with an axe, and a woman commanding spirits flashed by in succession, and finally, the Orc King stomped its foot.
KABOOM!
The Orc King’s body leaped into their midst.
With that, the scene switched to a scorching desert and quickly passed by.
After passing through the desert, an oasis, and a village, the view entered a pyramid-shaped tomb and focused on a giant lava lake.
Bubble, bubble.
In the lava lake, the first bubble burst, and the once-calm magma began to boil, forming a massive vortex. From the center of the vortex, a colossal figure slowly revealed itself.
Roooaaar!
A demon, its body tightly bound in thick chains, let out a roar, and the screen faded to black.
An endless grassland, with a giant forest at its center. A fierce war was raging within.
Clang, claclang!
Adventurers fought amongst themselves. For their own gains.
The scene then shifted to a slightly larger forest, where a larger-scale clash of adventurers was taking place.
Waaaaah!
A battle that could truly be called a large-scale war. In its midst, the leaders of the two factions, a Fighter in a red robe and a Swordsman in a blue robe, collided.
The rapidly moving camera headed into the forest, toward a massive hole bored into a sheer cliff.
Raaaaaaargh-!
A being of absolute power, a green dragon, roared at the empty sky.
And, from the sky where its eyes were fixed, a white flash of light shot down.
Flash!
Raaaaagh-!
The green dragon twisted its body violently, green blood flowing from a wound carved into its neck.
Then, the screen zoomed in on the white flash that had landed on the ground.
Silvery-white hair.
One eye, visible from the side, was gently covered by a lock of hair.
Her frame was small. She looked more like a girl than a woman.
The girl's body turned slightly, revealing the eye not hidden by her hair.
Within it, an obsidian blackness glinted ominously.
Raaaaagh-!
Vwooom!
Rumble, rumble!
An immense amount of energy began to gather in the green dragon's open maw.
Tap, tap, tap!
With the tense music escalating, the girl’s body leaped, stepping on rocks that had begun to float.
And finally, the lizard's slit pupils and the girl's obsidian eyes met.
Then, a breath attack that seemed capable of erasing everything was unleashed toward the girl.
KRAKOOM!
Flash!
The girl’s body, suspended in mid-air, became a streak of light and collided with the breath.
A blinding light filled the screen, and the music stopped.
Whoooosh!
The screen shifted back to the blizzard-swept mountain range.
On the summit of that mountain, the girl who had faced the green dragon stood.
The camera, which had been focusing on the girl with silvery hair, obsidian eyes, and a slender body, slowly moved up into the air.
And it showed what lay beyond the mountain range.
The frozen land, seen from the mountain's peak.
The endless snowfield.
[Astria Online, 'The Frozen Land']
*
"Whoa, whoa, woooow...!"
Seeing the commercial for the first time, I covered my eyes with my hands, feeling incredibly embarrassed.
What in the world have I done?
Of course, it was to pay back Chris.
It’s so, so, so embarrassing!
The view count for that commercial on the video-sharing site had already surpassed several million.
Apparently, it was even airing as a TV commercial in the outside world.
It's embarrassing! So embarrassing!
I only just now checked the commercial I was in, on the day the new expansion area opened.
It had been a while since the ad started airing, but I hadn't had the courage to watch it myself.
'You haven't seen it on YouTube? You came out so pretty and cool!'
'Rain, Rain! Turn on the TV right now! You're in the commercial!'
Every time Chris had giggled and told me to watch it, I had vehemently shaken my head and refused, but in the end, I looked it up myself.
Indeed, the embarrassment was on a whole different level from when I saw the edited version before it was released. Countless people had already seen the video.
If I was going to be this embarrassed, how did I even agree to let the video be released?
However, I couldn't help but check the comments section.
Is this what they call a desire for validation?
Thump, thump.
Clutching my pounding heart, I scrolled down with my eyes barely open.
What if the reactions are bad?
"...'Pitter-patter?' 'Hop, hop?' 'Tweet, tweet, tweet?'"
Strange onomatopoeias were dominating the top comments.
There was even a comment that looked like the person had literally stopped breathing.
Is the reaction good, or bad?
After standing in the middle of the snowfield for a moment, twisting my body in embarrassment with the browser window open, I lifted my head and looked at the village before me.
"Valos Village."
The first village of the new expansion, 'The Frozen Land'—'Valos Village' in the 'Par Snowfield Zone'—had appeared before my eyes.
The people of the Astria Continent were living even in such a harsh environment.
I had been to this region in the past. Was it when I fought the Corps Commander? Back then, there was no human village here. It might have existed further in the past but was destroyed by the demons.
The lore did say a lot of time had passed. Even during my active days, my travels weren't extensive enough to cover every corner of the continent.
Anyway, at this point in time, there was a village here. It was the first base for adventurers to visit before they began to explore the snowfield region in earnest. There would be quests, too.
Chris couldn't log in, even though it was the first day of the expansion. It seemed her work had gotten busy again lately.
This time, too, I'll have to level up first and power-level Chris.
For now, I should level up by doing sub-quests one by one.
Maybe I should also look for a good grinding spot.
Crunch, crunch.
Leaving small footprints in the snow, I entered the village.
"A monster-slaying quest right from the start in a new area."
I had to leave Valos Village not long after entering it.
A heavily clothed member of the town watch I met at the entrance had immediately requested my help.
[Quest: Defeat the Wolf Pack Leader]
[Let's defeat the leader of the snow wolf pack that threatens Valos Village.]
[Silver Sword Wolf 0/10]
Silver Sword Wolf.
The name for the alpha of a wolf pack.
It seemed quite a few wolf packs lived in the snowfield region.
This was a brand-new expansion area. The monsters' stats would be so high that they would be difficult to hunt without having finished farming in the plains.
But for me, it was no problem.
Shwing!
Whimper!
On the pure white snowfield, dots of red were sprinkled.
Swinging Astaroth, which gleamed with a silver light, I effortlessly cut down the wolf pack.
And finally, I faced a wolf twice as large as a normal one.
Grrrrr!
The Silver Sword Wolf, its eyes glaring, charged at me for killing its pack members.
Clang!
The wolf's massive fangs bit down on the sword I had casually swung.
"Oh."
A block, I see.
I put strength into my sword and imbued it with starlight.
Screeech!
Yelp!
Twisting my sword free after breaking a few of its teeth, I slashed the charging Silver Sword Wolf's back and side.
And without giving it a moment to recover, I unleashed a series of swift strikes.
Swish, swish, swish, swish!
Long gashes were left where my beloved sword, Astaroth, had passed.
Flash!
Yelp!
Its HP completely depleted by my final slash, the Silver Sword Wolf fell with a whimper.
I flicked Astaroth once and sheathed it.
As expected of a new expansion area, the field monster's HP was quite high.
Still, it was weak enough to be taken down in an instant if I used my flash strike.
Awoooo!
Hearing a wolf's howl from the nearby forest, I looked toward it.
In the forest of the snow-covered region, wolves began to slowly emerge.
The respawn rate is fast. This should be a decent spot for grinding.
Shk.
With a smile, I raised my sword and charged at the newly appeared wolf pack.
Thwip, thwip, thwip, thwip!
Yelp!
[Quest: Defeat the Wolf Pack Leader]
[Let's defeat the leader of the snow wolf pack that threatens Valos Village.]
[Silver Sword Wolf 4/10]
While dealing with the last of the smaller wolves, I glanced at the Silver Sword Wolf.
That one would make five.
Just then.
Thwack, thwack, thwack!
Yelp!
Arrows imbued with a blue aura flew in and took the Silver Sword Wolf's aggro. The wolf, which had been focused on me, started running toward the source of the arrows that had damaged it.
Thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack!
Yelp!
And with an additional volley of arrows, the Silver Sword Wolf finally fell.
"Huh."
I stared blankly at the spot where the Silver Sword Wolf had fallen.
That skill is True Shot, the Ranger's ultimate skill from the Tower of Training.
Turning my head in the direction the arrows came from, a male Elf Ranger user with long ears came into my view.
That person stole my Silver Sword Wolf.
He sat down without even glancing my way.
He plans to do the Silver Sword Wolf quest in this area with its fast respawn rate.
I puffed out my cheeks slightly.
Aren't I kind of famous now? I even filmed a commercial.
Then again, not every player watches the commercials, so it wouldn't be strange if some didn't know me.
Of course, I have no intention of throwing my weight around because of my fame.
But, even just as one player to another, this isn't right.
I was here first, clearing the area, and he just swooped in and took the quest mob.
Crunch, crunch.
I cautiously approached the Ranger.
He turned his head and glanced at me.
I hesitated slightly.
Rain, you filmed a commercial and you're still afraid of people? You've been working hard on your social skills.
Even if it's a stranger, you should be able to assert yourself this much.
There are Silver Sword Wolves in a spot a little further away, so could you please let me have this spot that I cleared out first?
Should I say that? It's too long.
Among the teachings of the ancient RPG sages, there was a phrase that shortened this long sentence.
I squeezed my eyes shut and shouted with all my might.
"Th-this is my spot!"